A deal between the UFC and Meta, the parent company of Facebook, will allow for the virtual reality broadcast of UFC and MMA events in the Metaverse.
When the press and public were excluded from UFC Vegas: Dern vs. Yan on October 1st, rumors swirled that a collaboration was in the works.
Despite initial reports and a sketchy poster for the event, Dana White denied rumors.
In the end, only a select group of Meta staff members, including Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan, attended the event and saw Mackenzie Dern and Yan Xiaonan square off in the UFC APEX for five rounds.
UFC’s choice to close off the event in order to accommodate the rich businessman and his associates drew criticism from media, athletes and fans. However, it is clear that the private screening was a step forward in negotiating the agreement that Meta and the UFC disclosed in a press statement today.
“UFC Fight Pass and Meta Horizon Worlds will start providing live and on-demand replays of MMA events in virtual reality via their collaboration. The LFA 144 event will take place on Friday, October 14. It will be the first event to be televised in VR180, a 180-degree panoramic perspective.”
We don’t know yet know when to anticipate the first official UFC event, but the press announcement assures us that additional VR broadcasts will be revealed shortly. This presumably means when all the bugs are worked out with the MMA VR version.
On a recent edition of The Joe Rogan Experience, Mark Zuckerberg acknowledged that he is a huge fan of mixed martial arts and the UFC. Zuckerberg does more than simply watch the bouts. He also practices Brazilian jiu-jitsu.
Conor McGregor, Sean O’Malley, Alexander Volkanovski, and Cody Garbrandt are just a few of the UFC stars that applauded footage of the Meta leader showcasing his stand-up prowess. Of course he’s not actually good at it but it’s still praise worthy.
Fans will need a compatible Meta Quest headset, a copy of Meta’s Horizon Worlds software, and (we presume) a UFCFP subscription to watch LFA 144 and future MMA events.